Julia Amaral (New York)
Julia began training at the age of nine, studying ballet, modern, tap, lyrical, and jazz. After high school, she went on to earn her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts degree in dance from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus. In New York she had the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by various world renowned choreographers, including Ron K. Brown, Bill T. Jones, Jennifer Muller, Nathan Trice, and Twyla Tharp, among others. In the summer of 2014, she joined the dance team for the Mets Affiliated baseball team, The Brooklyn Cyclones. Upon moving back to her native Massachusetts, Julia began teaching at Center Stage Dance Academy (Plymouth MA) as well as for the DEA Youth Dance program. She began dancing with various companies and choreographers in the area, including Adrienne Hawkins, and performs regularly at venues in the greater Boston and South Shore area, and with companies including Rainbow Tribe, Project 31 and Mystique Illusions Dance Theater. In 2018, Julia was one of the featured performers for the Raw Artists Boston show, where she performed a self choreographed work. She also guest teaches at local dance centers such as Green Street Studios and the Dance Complex.
Stephanie Boisvert (New Hampshire)
Stephanie received the bulk of her dance training at Melissa Hoffman Dance Center in Hudson, NH. As a teenager she had the opportunity to travel to Namibia, Africa on outreach missions, performing and teaching in schools throughout the country, which ignited her passion for community dance education. She graduated summa cum laude from Suffolk University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Art History. As a professional, Stephanie has previously danced with Hyperbole Dance, and has been a member of BoSoma Dance Company since May 2013. With BoSoma, she has had the opportunity to dance in festivals at Boston Common, on the New England Conservatory stage, and within art exhibits at the Peabody Essex Museum. Stephanie spent four years in the public school system, establishing the Dance Program at Salem Academy Charter School in Salem, MA. She is the Assistant Director of BoSoma School of Dance, Co-Director of the BoSoma Youth Company, and teaches a variety of classes from Tiny Tots to the Senior Level.
Kelsye Chevalier (Massachusetts)
Kelsye started her early training with the Donna Miceli Dance Center in Lowell, Massachusetts. From there, she went on to pursue a double major in Global Communication and Dance & Performance studies at Roger Williams University (Bristol, RI) under the direction of Gary Shore, France Hunter, and Cathy Nicoli. During her time there, she worked with distinguished modern choreographers such as Jean Abreu, Christina Robson, Helen Simoneau, Fritha Pengelly, and Kellie Ann Lynch. In 2013, Kelsye traveled to London, UK for a semester abroad to study modern dance. There she worked with choreographer Alexander Whitley as well as teachers Theo Lowe and Stephen Pelton. She also had the opportunity to partake in an experimental dance film entitled “Places Between” choreographed by Angie Conte and Sarah Poekert. Kelsye has had the honor of performing at the American College Dance Association in 2013 and 2015, and the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival in 2014. In May of 2015, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from RWU. Kelsye has been with BoSoma since 2016.
Courtney Costa (Massachusetts)
Courtney received a BFA in Dance Performance in 2017 from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford. During that time she had the opportunity to study and perform the classical forms of Ballet, Pointe, Limon, Graham and Contemporary directed by her professors and guests artists such as Manuel Vignoulle and Norbert De La Cruz III. She is now an instructor at Revival Academy of Dance and The Inspired Arts Company.
Meghan Hood (Connecticut)
Meghan began her dance training at the Priscilla Gibson School of Dance Arts in Manchester, CT. She continued her studies at Mass Motion Dance Academy in Sturbridge, MA and graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a BA in Dance and a BA in Early Childhood Education. While there, she earned the Chancellor’s Talent Award in Dance. Meghan teaches third grade in Brimfield, MA and has been on faculty at Mass Motion Dance Academy since 2001. She has been with BoSoma since 2003.
Kristen Katsimpas (Massachusetts)
Received her early training from Bill Fowler and later, Jeannette Neill's Boston Youth Moves (BYM). While training at BYM she was honored to work with master choreographers including Hope Boykin, Kirven Boyd, Chet Walker, and Richard Havey. She graduated from UMASS Amherst with a BFA in Dance, performing works by Camille A. Brown, Adirenne Hawkins, and Billbob Brown. She has also performed with Jazz Inc and Hyperbole. She joined the Boston Conservatory in 2014 as a Jazz Dance Instructor.
Rachel McKeon (Connecticut)
Rachel hails from Connecticut, and credits her early training to Nutmeg’s Dance and Theater Co. under the direction of Meg Fenton-Funk. Throughout high school, she also attended the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts in CT. Rachel graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges with a B.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography. During her time at HWS— and during summer intensives— she was privileged to work with artists such as Taylor 2, Kate Weare Company, Lehrerdance, David Dorfman and Robert Battle. Rachel joined BoSoma in 2012 and is extremely grateful for all of the amazing opportunities she has had with the company since then. Currently, she is pursuing her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of Massachusetts.
Candace Perry (Virginia)
Candace Perry, from Chester, Virginia, began her training at a young age and attended the magnet program at Thomas Dale High School for the Visual and Performing Arts. She then continued her education at George Mason University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and minor in Business, in 2014. While at George Mason she performed works by Mark Morris, Kyle Abraham, Bill T. Jones, Robert Battle, Stephen Petronio, Camille A. Brown, Martha Graham and others. Upon graduation she received two awards for Excellence in Choreography and Performance. From 2014-2015, Candace was a company member in Rioult Dance NY, performing in many of their 2015 national tour dates and performing abroad with the company in France and Italy. Between 2016 and 2018, Ms. Perry traveled the world as a featured dancer, aerialist, and Dance Captain for both Holland America Line and Royal Caribbean International. Candace now joins BoSoma Dance Company and is excited to continue her professional dance career in Massachusetts.
Jessica Rose Flynn (Massachusetts)
Jessica started dancing at the North Reading School of Ballet under the direction of Lisa Pulver. During her last three years at NRSB she was an Apprentice with Urbanity Contemporary Dance Company. After high school Jessica dove straight into pursuing a career in dance with Bosoma Dance Company, performing at the PEM for in the exhibit Rodin: Transforming Sculpture. Jessica is also a company member with Boston Community Dance Project and teaches and choreographs for various studios and companies.
Angela Zaccaradi (Massachusetts)
Angela joined BoSoma in 2015 after graduating magna cum laude from Dean College with a Bachelor of Arts in dance. During her time at Dean she trained in a variety of techniques including ballet, pointe, Horton, Graham, jazz, contemporary and tap. Angela studied with professionals such as Jill Silverman, Gregory King, Laura Young, Jeremy Ruth Howes, Robbie Mulrey, and Todd Shanks. She was Vice President of the Dean College Dance Team, performed in numerous shows on campus, and was also selected to perform at the Joyce Theatre, American College Dance Festival, and Boston Contemporary Dance Festival. Outside of her studies as a dance major, Angela further trained at the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive and the Donald Byrd Workshop at Spectrum Dance Theatre. In 2016 and 2017 Angela performed in Tony William's Urban Nutcracker. Most recently in 2017, Angela stared in the show King Triton’s Concert at Tokyo Disney Resort. She performed as an aerialist in the 15 minute show, which is entirely in Japanese. It is based on The Little Mermaid, and features Ariel as she “swims” over the audience. Angela had an incredible experience becoming an aerialist, learning Japanese, and living in a new country while performing at Tokyo Disney.
